1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magazine insertion slot opening/closing device for opening and closing a magazine insertion slot provided in a magazine type changer unit such as a CD changer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an autochanger unit of the type using a magazine which contains discs, a magazine insertion slot is provided to allow insertion and ejection of the magazine therethrough, and a door is provided so as to cover the magazine insertion slot. When such a magazine type autochanger unit is mounted on a vehicle, etc., a slide-type door rather than a swingable door is employed in many cases because the space available for operation of the door is restricted. Conventionally, the slide door has been manually opened and closed using a knob or the like provided on the surface of the slide door.
Use of the manually operated slide door to cover the magazine insertion slot, however, poses a problem in that the slide door may be left open after it has been opened for insertion or ejection of a magazine. If the slide door is left open, there is a risk that various foreign matters ranging from small substances such as dust to relatively large substances such as pieces of paper and coins may enter the changer unit through the open magazine insertion slot, and they may impede the operation of the changer unit. Also, even when the slide door is slid in the closing direction, the slide door often fails to be slid to its fully closed position. In such a case, a part of the magazine insertion slot is left open, thus likewise resulting in a possibility that foreign matters may enter the changer unit.
The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems in the related art, and an object of the invention is to provide a magazine insertion slot opening/closing device which is able to automatically close a slide door after being opened.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a magazine insertion slot opening/closing device for opening and closing a magazine insertion slot provided in a magazine type changer unit, a slide door is automatically closed by an urging unit.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magazine insertion slot opening/closing device for opening and closing a magazine insertion slot provided in a magazine type changer unit, the device comprising: a slide door slidably supported by a body of the changer unit to open and close the magazine insertion slot; door urging means for urging the slide door in a closing direction; a lock mechanism for locking the slide door in an open state; and an unlock mechanism for releasing the slide door locked by the lock mechanism.
With the above construction, when a magazine is inserted in and ejected from the changer unit, the slide door can be locked in the open state by the lock mechanism after the slide door has been opened. Then, the slide door can be surely released from the lock mechanism by automatically actuating the unlock mechanism at the time the insertion or ejection of the magazine is completed or ceased. After the unlocking, the slide door can be automatically closed under an urging force of the door urging unit with certainty.
Preferably, the locking and unlocking mechanisms are constructed as follows. The lock mechanism includes a locking member for locking the slide door and lock urging means for urging the locking member in a locking direction, the locking member being first pushed back in an unlocking direction with movement of the slide door in an opening direction and then moved in the locking direction to lock the slide door with further movement of the slide door in the opening direction. The unlock mechanism includes a release member for driving the locking member in the unlocking direction and driving force supply means for applying a driving force to the release member, the driving force supply means applying the driving force to the release member under electrical control, causing the release member to release the slide door locked by the lock mechanism.
With these features, when the slide door is opened, the slide door can be surely locked in a predetermined open position by utilizing movement of the slide door in the opening direction in a mechanical manner. When insertion of ejection of the magazine is completed, the slide door can be surely released from the lock mechanism by actuating the unlock mechanism under electrical control using various detection signals, etc. In this connection, the unlocked slide door can be automatically closed by the door urging unit with certainty.
The arrangement may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a magazine is inserted into the body of the autochanger unit and locked in a predetermined setup position.
With this arrangement, it is possible to automatically close the slide door upon completion of insertion of the magazine. In general this can easily be implemented by arranging such that the unlock mechanism is activated by a signal produced by a magazine lock detection switch or the like that detects locking of the magazine at the predetermined setup position.
The arrangement may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a preset certain time has lapsed after opening of the slide door in a condition where no magazine is inserted in the body of the autochanger unit.
This feature offers the following advantage. In the event that the slide door has accidentally been left opened as, for example, the user has suspended the magazine insertion operation after opening the slide door, the slide door can automatically be closed without allowing the slide door to be kept opened for a long time. This operation can easily be implemented by arranging such that the unlock mechanism is activated by signals produced by the aforesaid magazine lock detection switch and a slide door open detection switch, together with a signal from a timer.
The arrangement further may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a magazine is ejected from the body of the autochanger unit and extracted to the outside through the magazine insertion slot.
This arrangement permits the slide door to be automatically closed when the magazine has been fully extracted after being ejected. In general, this operation can easily be implemented by activating the unlock mechanism by a signal produced by, for example, a magazine IN/OUT detection switch capable of detecting that the magazine has been inserted into the magazine insertion slot.
The arrangement further may be such that the slide door comprises a plurality of slide doors which are divided in a sliding direction and slidable along respective inner and outer paths, and interlock means is provided between adjacent two of the divided slide doors for moving the other slide door at a preset ratio with movement of one slide door in an interlocked manner.
With this feature, the size of each of the divided slide doors can be reduced, and the divided slide doors can be positioned in overlapped relation, when opened, by properly setting a ratio between strokes through which the individual slide doors are movable. Accordingly, a space necessary for operating the slide door entirely can be minimized and the slide door can be avoided from projecting undesirably when opened.
In accordance with a aspect of the present invention, a magazine insertion slot opening/closing device comprises a slide door slidably supported by a body of a changer unit to open and close a magazine insertion slot, and a door urging unit for urging the slide door in a closing direction. Also, the device comprises a lock mechanism for locking the slide door in an open state, an unlock mechanism for releasing the slide door locked by the lock mechanism, and a manual unlocking unit capable of manually releasing the slide door locked by the lock mechanism separately from the unlock mechanism.
With the above construction, when a magazine is inserted in and ejected from the changer unit, the slide door can be locked in the open state by the lock mechanism after the slide door has been opened. Then, the slide door can be surely released from the lock mechanism by automatically actuating the unlock mechanism or by manual operation at the time the insertion or ejection of the magazine is completed or ceased. Further, after being unlocked, the slide door can be automatically closed under an urging force of the door urging unit with certainty.
Preferably, the lock mechanism, the unlock mechanism, and the manual unlocking unit are constructed as follows. The lock mechanism includes a locking member for locking the slide door and a lock urging unit for urging the locking member in a locking direction. The locking member is first pushed back in an unlocking direction accompanying a movement of the slide door in an opening direction and then moved in the locking direction to lock the slide door with further movement of the slide door in the opening direction. Also, the unlock mechanism includes a release member for driving the locking member in the unlocking direction and a driving force supply unit for applying a driving force to the release member. The driving force supply unit applies the driving force to the release member under electrical control, causing the release member to release the slide door locked by the lock mechanism. Further, the manual unlocking unit generates a force of pushing back the locking member in the unlocking direction when an external force greater than a certain level is applied.
With these features, when the slide door is opened, the slide door can be surely locked in a predetermined open position by utilizing movement of the slide door in the opening direction in a mechanical manner. When the slide door is closed from the condition being locked in the predetermined open position, the slide door can be surely released from the lock mechanism by actuating the unlock mechanism under electrical control using various detection signals, etc., or by manually operating the manual unlocking unit. In this connection, the unlocked slide door can be automatically closed by the door urging unit with certainty.
In this magazine insertion slot opening/closing device preferably, the manual unlocking unit is constituted by an engagement portion provided on one of the slide door and the locking member to locate therebetween, the engagement portion generating the force of pushing back the locking member in the unlocking direction when an external force greater than a certain level is applied to the slide door in the closing direction.
With the above construction, the slide door can be easily released from the locked state by manual operation. More specifically, when the slide door is closed from the condition being locked in the predetermined open position, the locking member is pushed back to an unlock position by the engagement portion by slightly applying a force of moving the slide door in the closing direction, thus enabling the slide door to be easily released from the locked state by manual operation. Further, since the manual unlocking unit can be simply constructed by the engagement portion provided on one of the slide door and the locking member to locate therebetween, there is no need of providing, for example, an additional member dedicated for the manual unlocking.
In this magazine insertion slot opening/closing device, preferably, the engagement portion includes a guide-side slope and a locked-side slope which are sloped in different directions. The guide-side slope acts to generate a force of pushing back the locking member in the unlocking direction upon application of a force of moving the slide door in the opening direction, and the locked-side slope acts to generate a force of pushing back the locking member in the unlocking direction upon application of a force of moving the slide door in the closing direction. Further, the lock urging unit generates a urging force set such that a force acting to hold the locking member in a predetermined lock position under the urging force generated by the lock urging unit is greater than a force acting to push back the locking member in the unlocking direction under the urging force generated by the door urging unit.
With this feature, by utilizing the simple engagement portion including the two slopes and properly setting the relationship between the urging forces of both the urging units, a series of locking operations can be easily and reliably performed when the slide door is opened, and the slide door can be easily and reliably unlocked when the slide door is closed. More specifically, when the slide door is opened, the locking member is pushed back in the unlocking direction by the guide-side slope upon application of the force of moving the slide door in the opening direction. Then, the slide door is locked at the locked-side slope by the locking member under the urging force of the lock urging unit. On this occasion, a force of pushing back the locking member in the unlocking direction is exerted on the locked-side slope due to the urging force of the lock urging unit. However, since the force acting to hold the locking member in the predetermined lock position under the urging force of the lock urging unit is greater than the above pushing-back force, the locking member can be surely held in the lock position, and therefore the slide door can be surely locked in the predetermined open position. When the slide door is closed from the locked open state, the locking,member is pushed back by the locked-side slope to the unlock position by slightly applying a force of moving the slide door in the closing direction. As a result, the slide door can be easily released from the locked state.
In this magazine insertion slot opening/closing device, preferably, the manual unlocking unit is constituted by a rotatable manual release member having an engaging end held in engagement with the locking member and an operated end operable from the outside of the device, the manual release member being rotated to push back the locking member in the unlocking direction when an external force greater than a certain level is applied.
With this feature, the slide door can be manually and easily released from the locked state. More specifically, when the slide door is closed from the condition being locked in the predetermined open position, the manual release member is rotated by manually operating the operated end of the manual release member from the outside of the device. With the rotation of the manual release member, the locking member is pushed back in the unlocking direction by the engaging end of the manual release member, thus enabling the slide door to be manually and easily released from the locked state.
The arrangement may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a magazine is inserted into the body of the autochanger unit and locked in a predetermined setup position.
With this feature, the slide door can be automatically closed after insertion of the magazine is completed. In general, this automatic closing operation can be easily realized by actuating the unlock mechanism with, e.g., a magazine-lock sensor switch for detecting the fact that the magazine has been locked in the predetermined setup position.
The arrangement also may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a preset certain time has lapsed after opening of the slide door in a condition where no magazine is inserted in the body of the autochanger unit.
With this feature, when the slide door is accidentally left in the open state for such a reason that the user ceases the operation of inserting the magazine after opening the slide door for insertion of the magazine, the slide door can be automatically closed before a long time lapses in the condition of the slide door being left open. In general, this automatic closing operation can be easily realized by actuating the unlock mechanism using the magazine-lock sensor switch, an opening sensor switch for detecting the open state of the slide door, etc. in combination with a timer.
The arrangement may be such that the unlock mechanism releases the slide door locked by the lock mechanism when a magazine is ejected from the body of the autochanger unit and withdrawn to the outside through the magazine insertion slot.
With this feature, when the magazine is ejected from the changer unit, the slide door can be automatically closed after the magazine has been completely withdrawn to the outside. In general, this automatic closing operation can be easily realized by actuating the unlock mechanism using, e.g., a magazine IN/OUT sensor switch for detecting whether the magazine has been inserted into the magazine insertion slot.
The slide door may comprise a plurality of slide doors which are divided in a sliding direction and slidable along respective inner and outer paths, and an interlock unit is provided between adjacent two of the divided slide doors for moving the other slide door at a preset ratio with movement of one slide door in an interlocked manner.
With this feature, the size of each of the divided slide doors can be reduced, and the divided slide doors can be positioned in overlapped relation, when opened, by properly setting a ratio between strokes through which the individual slide doors are movable. Accordingly, a space necessary for operating the slide door entirely can be minimized and the slide door can be avoided from projecting undesirably when opened.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following description of the preferred embodiment when the same is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.